Introducing The Gathering: A new podcast from ‘The Growth Collective’

We spend a lot of time thinking about growth.  

Not just in terms of scale or performance, but how we can thrive together. It’s why we developed our training platform, The Growth Collective. It’s a space to grow together. We’re learning new skills from experts and through conversations and debates between each other.  

To fuel this curiosity, Harry, our Sales and Marketing Lead, and Jon, our Co-Founder & Managing Director, have launched our podcast: The Gathering.  

Beginning in October last year, The Gathering created space for curiosity, reflection and learning in a world that often rushes toward answers. It’s a collective forum. A place to share ideas and take inspiration from some of the most fascinating people on the planet.  

Want to catch up? Find our first few episodes here. 

In our most recent episode, Harry and Jon chatted to Mairead Cahill. She’s the founder of Wonderoom, an impact and multimedia company aimed at connecting people and businesses to a more nature-positive future. Mairead is a film maker and storyteller. She has over 20 years’ experience in making an impact with nature and social justice.  

Our conversation with Mairead invites listeners into a wide-ranging discussion about nature, leadership and what it really means to build resilience in a time of change. It’s her goal to combine storytelling and learning to bring impact that supports people, nature and business to flourish. 

“What excites me most is that we’re at a pivotal moment. We need to reimagine and reconnect our working relationship with nature at an individual, economic, societal, and business level. That’s what I’m deeply passionate about.” – Mairead 

The topics explored in the podcast aren’t problems with simple solutions. They need open dialogue and a willingness to sit with their complexity. 

Harry, Jon and Mairead raise uncomfortable but necessary questions in episode three.  

What does responsible leadership look like when nature values and commercial realities collide?  

Where are the genuine opportunities for ‘win-wins’? 

Where do some of the difficult trade-offs remain unavoidable? 

The Gathering isn’t about blind optimism in the face of a challenge. We discuss how progress requires honesty. Being realistic about limits, tensions, and the courage to make decisions that prioritise long-term health over short-term convenience. This echoes many of the conversations happening across the environmental and planning professions today. 

The core question shaping Mairead’s work is how to help people and businesses connect meaningfully with nature-positive solutions that deliver direct value, while also contributing back to the natural systems we’re part of. 

One of Mairead’s major projects is Sea, Land and City, a film and impact campaign produced with the support of Wonderoom’s brand and community partners. The film explores the UK as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, while also being one of the most nature-disconnected in Europe. The idea of our “green and pleasant land” is largely an illusion. 

Mairead also wants to tell a more hopeful and under-told story. We have incredible nature-based solutions right here in the UK. In our soil, food systems, coastlines, cities, and rivers. These solutions can support mental health and wellbeing and strengthen the resilience of our economy and climate. That’s exciting, because it gives us not just hope but something to act on. 

The challenge that Mairead highlights is that we’re operating within economic and cultural systems that aren’t intrinsically nature-positive. But it’s what inspires her to work harder and reach more people. Change requires creativity, resourcefulness, and meeting people where they are at right now to make a positive impact possible.  

Building a community is the driving factor behind The Growth Collective and, ultimately, The Gathering, too. Connecting with others who share similar values and inspiring one another with curiosity and imagination gives us the ability to imagine better futures.  

At the Tyler Grange team day, Mairead screened Sea, Land and City for us and followed it with a facilitated discussion. The team explored what the story means for them personally and professionally, and what opportunities it opens. Storytelling, education, and facilitated reflection are powerful, practical entry points into nature-positive action for any organisation. People leave feeling energised, connected, and inspired – not overwhelmed. 

Nature can’t be treated as a niche or purely environmental issue. It’s more important than ever to view nature as something foundational to business strategy, leadership and human wellbeing.  

Mairead, Harry and Jon move the conversation beyond compliance-driven sustainability and instead explore how nature can be understood as an ally, supporting organisational resilience, strengthening communities, and reconnecting people with a sense of meaning and place.  

“Small, incremental actions can deliver value quickly. Trying to change everything at once is daunting, but simple, consistent steps make progress achievable. Nature strategies don’t have to be complex or expensive at the outset. Even basic strategies can improve resilience, reduce costs, and support wellbeing.” – Mairead 

To listen to the fascinating conversation we had with Mairead, you can find episode three of The Gathering here.